As Director of Beta Development for the adult multiple gaming community Xen of Onslaught, I'd like to announce my interest in this game. Seems a little silly I'm sure, but we do have RTS games within our supported section as well as MMORPGs and FPS titles. What interests us is the MMORTS function the game will provide, and naturally we're going to be looking into it a little more over. Right now we've only just now heard about the game, and we look forward to being an active part of the community.

Of course, there are some questions to be offered. For starters:

Has there been mention of a controlled MMORTS option? For example, a clan can host their own server for the game which can be passworded. Only players of that clan can join in on the server. They can also make settings for their own customizable campaigns.

Are there any more in depth options for players of the MMORTS portion of the game that have not been clearly ironed out? Customizable flags, dressings, banners, etc?

Have the development team considering allowing players to create their own races using stock mechanisms with different appearances? This could provide a more unique appeal to the MMORTS portion of the game, allowing a player to feel like their race is truly there own. Extended example: A player can choose from a library of already existing models of textures to turn the Dragon Faction into a race of Trolls for example, but still function as the Dragon Faction.

Finally, and most inevitable: Is there a projected time for the Beta Test?

The questions are unfortunately a little too easy to answer at the moment, because there aren't very good answers for them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrleanKnight

Has there been mention of a controlled MMORTS option? For example, a clan can host their own server for the game which can be passworded. Only players of that clan can join in on the server. They can also make settings for their own customizable campaigns.

Are there any more in depth options for players of the MMORTS portion of the game that have not been clearly ironed out? Customizable flags, dressings, banners, etc?

Have the development team considering allowing players to create their own races using stock mechanisms with different appearances? This could provide a more unique appeal to the MMORTS portion of the game, allowing a player to feel like their race is truly there own. Extended example: A player can choose from a library of already existing models of textures to turn the Dragon Faction into a race of Trolls for example, but still function as the Dragon Faction.

Finally, and most inevitable: Is there a projected time for the Beta Test?

1. No there has not been an option thought of, or planned to be added for a seperate server option.

2. No "depth" options other than customizable banners have been planned for MMORTS.

3. Although this idea is interesting, I don't believe it will be added, I will have to ask the game designers if it seems feasible, or something we would want to add.

The questions are unfortunately a little too easy to answer at the moment, because there aren't very good answers for them.

1. No there has not been an option thought of, or planned to be added for a seperate server option.

2. No "depth" options other than customizable banners have been planned for MMORTS.

3. Although this idea is interesting, I don't believe it will be added, I will have to ask the game designers if it seems feasible, or something we would want to add.

4. No there isn't a firm date for beta testing to start yet.

Personally, I think the is going great so far. As for the clan the customized campaign seems to be going a little too far but seems like a good idea though. I also like the idee for custom banners but think they should be a pretty basic design if used.

Proudfoot here. I'm a member of the Xenate (basically a lower level of leadership from OrleanKnight) within Xen of Onslaught. I led XoO's first Supported RTS division (as far as I know) with Dawn of War a while back, and I'm getting more and more interested in seeing the future of this game.

The thing that always concerns me about RTSes is the level of online support and balancing that they receive. Dawn of War was (and still is) an amazing game, but what always bothered me was that it is so infrequently patched. Since the release of Dawn of War: Dark Crusade there have only been two balance patches that I know of, and they were several months each in coming!

Because of this slow and sparse patching process a lot of players stopped playing the game online; the balance between races was just that bad. The changes the patches have made are incredible, and I may even start playing some DoW again after reading the 1.2 patch notes, but I can't help but feel that DoW might have had success on a higher level (say, comparable to that of Starcraft or Warcraft 3) if the patches, bug fixes, and balance had been a little sooner in coming.

My question for the devs is, What level of dedication will you have towards balance patches and bug fixes? Do you plan to wait three or four months after release to put out a large and significant patch, or are you willing to release many small patches to keep gamers interested?